Navtech Inc., which provides crew scheduling solutions, flight planning and navigation charts, is consolidating its operations including European Aeronautical Group under the Navtech umbrella name. EAG was formed in 2002 after SAS Flight Support acquired Thales' Aeronautical Services Group. Navtech acquired the company from SAS Group in 2005 ( ATWOnline, Nov. 24, 2005). According to CEO Mike Hulley, Navtech is No. 3 in the market behind Jeppesen, a unit of Boeing, and Lufthansa Systems' Lido product line.
Alaska Airlines promoted VP-Human Resources, Strategy and Culture Kelley Dobbs to VP-human resources and labor relations succeeding the retiring Dennis Hamel.
Kenya Airways posted a KES4 billion ($49.2 million) loss for its fiscal year ended March 31, reversed from a KES3.87 billion profit in the prior year and the first annual deficit it has endured since its privatization in 1996.
Frontier Airlines reported a 15.7% year-over-year traffic decrease in May to 747.6 million RPMs on a 14.9% cut in capacity to 919.2 million ASMs, producing a load factor of 81.3%, down 0.9 point. Estonian Air carried 45,972 passengers in April, down 31.7% year-over-year. Hawaiian Airlines said its May traffic fell 2% year-over-year to 682.6 million RPMs on a 0.9% lift in capacity to 819.5 million ASMs, producing a load factor of 83.3%, down 2.4 points.
KLM concluded an agreement for the sale of 15 F100s operated by subsidiary KLM cityhopper, Luchtvaartnieuws.nl reported. The carrier declined to name the buyer. KLM has been looking for a buyer for its larger Fokker aircraft since 2007, when it decided to renew cityhopper's fleet with E-190s. It took delivery of its first E-190 last November and currently has four. Another six of the order for 10 plus nine options will be delivered over the next nine months.
French officials investigating the loss of Air France Flight 447 are still processing reams of data yet to be publicly released that was transmitted by the A330-200's aircraft communications addressing and reporting system.
Aer Lingus is "facing the most difficult period in its 73-year history," Chairman Colm Barrington told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in Dublin Friday, conceding that yields in all its markets continued to decline in April and May.
EADS CEO Louis Gallois reiterated Friday that Airbus will deliver around 480 aircraft this year, roughly the same as the 483 delivered in 2008, but cautioned that "visibility is more limited" for 2010 and 2011. Speaking to reporters in Hanoi, he said, "I think 2010 will be a crucial year for the [financial] crisis. We will see the depth of the crisis. I hope this crisis is not too deep but we are prepared to face all scenarios."
SITA won a seven-year contract from Syrian Arab Airlines to implement and maintain a global hybrid network solution for the carrier's worldwide IP connections.
Sabre signed a contract for a five-year extension of a 10-year deal with First Air to continue supplying the Canadian carrier with its SabreSonic Customer Sales and Service solution.
BAE Systems Asset Management placed one BAe 146-200QT freighter with Indonesia's PT Nusantara Air Charter. It won an exclusive remarketing mandate from European Turboprop Management AB of Sweden, the previous manager of the aircraft.
The world's airlines will lose $9 billion this year after shedding $10.4 billion in 2008, IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said Monday. Addressing delegates at the 65th IATA Annual General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Bisignani said, "There is no modern precedent for today's economic meltdown" and expressed doubt that growth will resume by year end, making the case instead for an "L-shaped" recovery. "I am a realist. I don't see facts to support optimism," he said.
Jeppesen reached agreement with Flybe to provide the regional carrier with a broad complement of services including flight planning, charts and its Airside Services program that is designed to help "airlines transition from paper to electronic systems."
GuestLogix launched its OnTouch onboard merchandising service powered by its Mobile Virtual Store onboard transaction platform. It said OnTouch is "now live with several of its services available on a leading global carrier" and that it is "ready for immediate implementation" by airlines.
TAP Portugal launched a carbon offset program with IATA enabling passengers to pay compensation for the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from their flights. The proceeds will be given to the Aquarius Hydroelectric Project, a renewable energy project in Brazil. It is the first such program to be launched in conjunction with IATA. The industry-wide scheme designed by the association calculates CO2 based on a methodology developed by ICAO. IATA is the administering entity for the TAP program and will arrange the purchase of carbon credits and manage and provide offset tracking.
Air Berlin raised €23 million ($32.7 million) from the issuance of approximately 6.6 million new shares (representing 10% of its share capital), which it said were placed with "institutional and professional investors" at €3.50 per share.
Aviacsa, a Monterrey-based LCC operating 25 aircraft, was grounded temporarily by Mexican authorities after maintenance irregularities were discovered, according to press reports. Las Vegas is its only international destination. Aviacsa protested the decision, claiming on its website, "It should be noted that the observations that were detected in these inspections do not threaten the airworthiness and the safety of aircraft."
JetBlue Airways said it is raising its stock offering announced earlier this week to 23 million shares from 20 million and pricing them at $4.25 each. Lufthansa is expected to purchase 3.6 million of those shares. The offering of convertible debentures due 2039 also will be raised to $175 million from $150 million.
French officials leading the investigation into the Air France A330-200 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean Sunday night about 400 mi. northeast of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago cautioned against "hasty interpretations or speculation" regarding the accident's cause, particularly since no wreckage from the aircraft has been recovered.
Malev Hungarian Airlines said it expects its 2009 operating result to rise by HUF1.5 billion ($7.5 million) over last year's, which it did not reveal, while flying approximately 3.1 million passengers. "We are going to make changes to the Malev fleet, schedule, commercial activities and headcount in the second half of the year," CEO Martin Gauss said in a statement. "Together, these will enable us to improve our results this year against 2008.
American Airlines flew 10.38 billion system RPMs in May, down 11.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 8.8% to 13.11 billion ASMs and load factor fell 2.6 points to 79.2%. American Eagle flew 622.9 million RPKs, down 14.3%, against a 14.5% fall in ASMs to 849.6 million, lifting load factor 0.2 point to 73.3%. United Airlines flew 9.54 billion consolidated RPMs in May, down 12.3% year-over-year. Capacity decreased 10.2% to 11.92 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 1.9 points to 80%.
